Adjustable pole hanger for clothes



May 7, 1963 o. E. KAESLIN ADJUSTABLE POLE HA NGER FOR CLOTHES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 2

Filed June 22, 1960 Oscar E. Kaes/in y 7, 1963 o. E. KA ESLIN 3,088,422

ADJUSTABLE POLE HANGER FOR CLOTHES Filed June 22, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 5

Z "1 I X I 90 84 Oscar E Kqes/in I INVENTOR. l BY Q WWW M 3,088,422 Patented May 7., 1963 3,088,422 ADJUSTABLE POLE HANGER FOR CLOTHES Oscar E. Kaeslin, 1444 SW. 27th Court, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Filed June 22, 1960, Ser. No. 38,010 11 Claims. (Cl. 108-29) The present invention generally relates to a clothes hanger assembly and more particularly to an assembly for use within the interior of a clothes closet.

Clothes closets normally are provided with a clothes pole or poles either extending from front to rear or from side to side of the closet in which the entire length of the pole or poles is disposed at the same elevation. Normally, there is a single shelf overlying the poles or pole for supporting various articles. In order to support the clothes pole or poles, there is usually provided a wood cleat or strip on the interior of the closet which not only supports the pole or poles but also forms a supporting ledge on which the shelf or shelves are mounted. Generally, the length of the clothes pole is inadequate for purposes of supporting the desired quantity of clothes. Further, it is also quite usual for clothes of varying lengths to be supported from the clothes pole or poles in a closet. For example, certain types of clothes are shorter than others. For example, a dress, long coat or the like is substantially twice the length of blouses, skirts, shirts, suits, trousers and the like. Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide an assembly for use in a clothes closet which will effectively split the clothes closet into different areas, one area for supporting long garments and the other area including two vertically spaced and adjustable hanger poles for supporting shorter garments thereby increasing the effective supporting length of hanger pole which can .be incorporated into a closet.

The present invention also has for another object the provision of a movable framework supported within closets already in use over six feet in length where the ends are enclosed and have two front to rear poles, the framework having two vertically spaced hanger rods mounted thereon for supporting two rows of vertical garments with the frame being movably supported from the closet for movement in relation to the conventionally provided clothes hanger poles in this type of closet so that the frame may be moved to a point adjacent one of the shelves normally overlying the existing clothes hanger poles already in the closet so that normal access can be had to the other normally provided clothes hanger pole.

Another and most important object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable clothes hanger pole assembly which may be incorporated into substantially any conventional and existing clothes closet structure and built into newly constructed closets without undue modification of the closet with the entire assembly being quite easy to install and extremely inexpensive to manufacture.

Another important feature of the dual clothes closet hanger pole is the facility with which childrens clothes are hung from the lower pole thereby enabling them to be easily obtained by small children. The adjustable construction of the dual poles enables the poles to be oriented in the most advantageous manner depending upon the size of the garment to be supported on the clothes hanger pole.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a clothes closet with the dual adjustable pole hanger of the present invention incorporated therein;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 22 of FIGURE 1 illustrating further structural details of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a partial perspective view of the supporting bracket for the hanger of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the manner of supporting the poles from the vertical support members;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a conventional closet having front to rear end poles and illustrating a dual pole hanger attachment employed therein and illustrating the movable relationship thereof;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 6-6 of FIGURE 5 illustrating the clothes hanger assembly in side elevation;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 7-7 of FIGURE 6 illustrating the manner of supporting the hanger assembly from the wall attached trackway; and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged detailed plan sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 8-8 of FIGURE 6 illustrating the arrangement of the lower plate and the manner in which a lower roller is engaged with a plate.

Referring now specifically to the drawings and particularly to FIGURES 1-4, the numeral 10 generally designates the dual pole assembly of the present invention which is incorporated into a conventional enclosure such as a clothes closet indicated by numeral 12. Normally, the clothes closet would be provided with a peripheral cleat 14 attached to the side walls and also along the back wall and the cleat would support a single pole hanger and a single shelf thereon. In the present invention, the cleat 14 is still employed and it supports one end of a pair of clothes poles 16 and 18 by virtue of the poles 16 and 18 extending into a socket 15 in the cleat '14 in a usual manner. The cleat 14 also supports a pair of shelves 2t and 22 by virtue of the shelves resting on the ledge formed by the cleat 14. Disposed above the cleat 14 is another cleat 24 to which is attached a pair of brackets generally designated by numeral 26 and which includes a horizontal member 28 of angle iron construction having a laterally extending attaching lug 30 integral with the inner end thereof. Pivotally attached to the outer end of the horizontal member 28 is an upwardly extending inclined member 32 connected thereto by a pivot bolt 34 or the like. Attached to the upper end of the inclined member 32 is an L-shaped attaching bracket 36 connected thereto by a pivot bolt, rivet or the like designated by numeral 38. The attaching brackets 3t and 36 extend toward the side walls of the cabinet and the horizontal flange 29 on the horizontal member 2 8 for-ms a supporting ledge for an additional shelf member 40 which rests on the edge formed by the cleat 24 and may be attached to the ledge formed by the horizontal flange of the horizontal member 28. The horizontal member 28 is also employed to support the inner ends of shelves 20 and 22 and additionally serve to stabilize the vertical support means 42.

Each of the brackets 26 supports a vertical support member 42 by virtue of the bolt 34 also extending through the support member 42 which may be in the form of an elongated wood strip or any equivalent member. Disposed in the forward edge or outer edge of the wood strip 4 2 is a plurality of sockets 44 which are upwardly inclined towards the outer edge of the strip for receiving removable pins 46 which extend through transverse hanger poles 48 constructed of tubular pipe or the like thus adjustably supporting the ihangers 48 in vertically spaced position. Also, the inner end of the poles 16 and 18 are supported by virtue of a pin 46 extending therethrough and into one of the sockets 44.

In this form: of the invention, clothes hangers 50 are supported from the clothes poles 16 and 18 in the usual manner and the dual poles 48 also support hangers having shorter articles of clothing thereon. It is pointed out that the assembly may be as illustrated in FIGURE 1 or it may be that the closet would only be as wide as the area between one side wall and the vertical support member 42 remote therefrom with the vertical support member 42 connected directly to the side wall of the closet. In either form of the invention, the same arrangement is employed, that is, the arrangement where a pair of poletype hangers are provided which are vertically spaced and vertically adjustable together with a single type pole in the usual position together with a single or double shelf arrangement. The particular construction of the vertical hangers or support members and the particular construction of the poles and the brackets may be varied as long as the orientation of the components is retained with the various modifications of the components falling within the purview of the present invention.

Referring now specifically to the construction shown in FIGURES -8, a closet having the ends enclosed is illustrated and is designated by numeral 54. This type of closet is normally provided with a pair of shelves 56 therein extending from front to rear at the sides of the closet with a clothes pole or hanger 58 disposed under each shelf 56. The assembly of the shelf and hanger at each side of the closet is conventional. However, in the area between the shelves 56 which normally would be considered the back wall of the closet, there is provided an attachment generally designated by the numeral 60 which includes a pair of substantially U-shaped tubular frame members 62. each including a vertical component 64 parallel to the rear wall, and inwardly extending lower horizontal components 66 spaced from the floor and an upper inwardly extending and inclined component 68. The vertical components 64 are interconnected by transverse tubular poles 70 secured to the vertical component 64 by bolts 72 or equivalent fasteners. The bolts 72 may be received in vertically spaced openings for varying the position of the supporting poles 70.

The upper inner end of each of the upper components 68 is supported from a horizontal trackway 74 supported on a cleat 76. The trackway 74 is provided with a U- shaped lower edge portion 78 engaged with and retaining a roller 80 carried on a bracket 82 attached to the inner end of the upper component 68 of the U-shaped frame rail 62. The lower end of the lower component 66 is movably engaged with the back wall by virtue of a roller 84 being journaled on a bifurcated end 86 ofthe inwardly extending lower member 66. The roller 84 is provided with a peripheral surface 88 of resilient material such as nylon or the like and the roller engages a horizontal strip or plate 90 mounted on the rear wall of the closet by fasteners 92 or the like. Thus, the combination of the rollers 80 and 84 on each of the U-shaped frame rails 62 movably supports the attachment 60 for rolling movement towards the opposite shelf or end of the closet thus enabling the entire attachment to be moved to a point adjacent one of the shelves 56, as illustrated in dotted line position in FIGURE 5, so that complete access can be had to the opposite shelf or the opposite hanger pole underlying the shelf.

In each form of the invention, the effective length of closet pole hanger provided in a closet is materially increased and the structure of the closet has actually been modified very little and the arrangement may be assembled with existing closets with very little additional material being required and requiring very little effort in the installation of the assembly in the closet. In all instances, readily available components are employed which retains the manufacturing cost at a minimum and also maintains the installation procedure quite simple whereby persons reasonably skilled may easily install the assembly in their own closet.

Both types of brackets, that is, the stationary type or the slide or glide type are intended for use in present closets and also are intended to be incorporated into new homes when they are built.

The trend today is to leave the entire length of the closet open at front and enclose the open front with bypass sliding doors or accordion type folding panel doors or various hinge devices which will allow the doors to be split when pulled out to an open position. For this type of construction, the form of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 1-4 is best employed.

For closets already in use or planned in new constructions having a length of six feet or more and where the ends of the closet are enclosed as shown in FIGURE 5, the structure illustrated in FIGURE 5 is best employed. In this arrangement, each row of garments on each end requires twenty-two inches of space across the shoulders. With two rows of garments, one on each end, there is a requirement of forty-four inches of space. Thus, with an eighty inch closet, there would be thirty-six inches left open on the back wall. The dual glide hanger illustrated in FIGURES 5-8 may be employed with a loss of twelve inches for travel to allow for removing garments on either of the conventional end poles running from front to rear of the closet as shown in FIGURE 5.

As FIGURE 5 illustrates, there are two regular height poles running from front to rear and assuming that the closet is twenty-four inches deep, this would provide forty-eight inches of regular pole and two dual poles of twenty-four inches in length making an additional fortyeight inches of pole. Thus, a combined total of ninetysix inches of garment pole is provided in a closet of eighty inches where normally there would only be fortyeight inches of regular garment pole. As the closet is increased in length, the dual poles will also be increased accordingly thus adding to the over-all gain of pole length.

The shelving is arranged on the closet having the dual glide pole for the full width and depth of the enclosed end with one full shelf over the regular pole. Spaced between the full shelf normally provided and the ceiling is another shelf, if desired. Thus, if two full additional shelves are used, it would be possible to have sixteen square feet of shelf space.

The form of the invention or stationary dual pole illustrated in FIGURES 1-4 may be used on any length of closet from four feet on up. The dual glide arrangement illustrated in FIGURE 5 is not practical in closets much under seventy inches in length. A primary reason for use of the dual glide pole is that it will provide more wall space in the room for better placing of furniture since the closet door or opening may be reduced in size.

The stationary dual pole will allow for more garment pole but requires more front opening. For example, by using this bracket, the pole is increased from eighty inches to one hundred and twelve inches and increased accordingly as the length of the closet increases from the standard eighty-inch length. Normally, closets are made from twenty-two to twenty-eight inches deep or from front to rear with the length thereof varying considerably but very seldom under four feet.

The foregoing is considered as illustrated only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A combined hanger for clothes and a clothes closet comprising an assembly including a pair of vertical support members, means supporting the support member in the interior of the closet, a pair of vertically spaced poles disposed on said vertical support members for supporting two vertically superimposed rows of suspended garments, and means connecting the poles to the support members for vertical adjustment of the poles, the space between the poles and below the lower pole being free of obstructions for receiving the rows of garments, said means for supporting the vertical support members including a bracket including a horizontal member and an upwardly inclined member attached to the rear wall of the closet, a flange on the upper edge of each horizontal member of the bracket, and a shelf member supported from the flange, the rear of the horizontal support member including a laterally offset lug, and a cleat on said wall of the closet for engagement by the lug and forming a ledge for supporting the remainder of the shelf.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said vertical supports are each provided with a plurality of vertically spaced sockets with the sockets being disposed in angular position for receiving a removable pin.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 together with a short supporting pole engaged with the cleat on one wall of the closet and engaged with the support member at the other end thereof, a shelf overlying said short pole, said short pole being at a vertical elevation intermediate the pair of poles supported by and between the support members.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 together with a short pole extending from the other support member to the cleat at the other side wall of the cabinet, and a shelf supported from the cleat and from the flange on the horizontal member of the bracket.

5. A combined hanger for clothes and a clothes closet comprising an assembly including a pair of vertical support members, means supporting the support member in the interior of the closet, a pair of vertically spaced poles disposed on said vertical support members for supporting two vertically superimposed rows of suspended garments, and means connecting the poles to the support members for vertical adjustment of the poles, the space between the poles and below the lower pole being free of obstructions for receiving the rows of garments, said means for supporting the vertical support members including a horizontal trackway, rollers carried by the support members engaging the trackway, each support member having an inwardly inclined portion engaged with the rollers, each support member having an inwardly extending lower end portion, a roller on the lower end portion, and a plate mounted on the rear wall for engagement by the rollers on the lower end portions of the support members thereby movably supporting the support members within the closet, said poles being connected at vertically spaced points to the vertical support members intermediate the inwardly inclined portions and the inwardly extending bottom ends.

6. In combination with a clothes closet having a space defined by peripheral walls, a clothes pole assembly including a pair of vertically elongated support members mounted interiorly of the closet, a single clothes pole supported within said closet at a conventional height outside of the space between the pair of vertically elongated support members for receiving long or short garments suspended therefrom, and a pair of vertically spaced poles supported by and between said support members in vertically spaced relation with one of the pair of poles being above the first mentioned clothes pole at conventional height and one of the pair of poles being below the first mentioned clothes pole of conventional height, the space between the pair of clothes poles and the space below the lowermost pole being free of obstructions for receiving two rows of shorter garments suspended therefrom thereby increasing the capacity of the closet by supporting the shorter garments in vertically disposed rows and the longer garments in a single row.

7. A hanger for clothes in a clothes closet comprising a pair of vertical support members, means adapted to mount said support members on the rear wall of a closet at a point spaced from the side walls a suflicient distance so as to allow for the use of a conventional clothes pole, a pair of vertically spaced poles adjustably secured on the outer edges of said support members, said outer edges and pair of vertically spaced poles adapted to be supported at a distance from the rear wall of a closet sufficient to accommodate suspended garments.

8. A hanger for clothes in a clothes closet comprising an assembly including a pair of vertical support members, means supporting the support members comprising a pair of bracket units adapted to be secured to an interior wall of the closet, said units adapted to extend outwardly from said interior wall, a pair of vertically spaced poles adjustably disposed on the vertical support members for supporting vertically superimposed rows of suspended garments, the vertical support members and poles thereon adapted to be supported by the brackets at a distance from said interior wall sufficient to accommodate suspended garments, said bracket units including horizontal members on even height with cleats adapted to be secured to interior walls of the closet, and shelf members supported on said horizontal members and cleats.

9. The structure as defined in claim 8 together with a short supporting pole engaged with the cleat adapted to be on one wall of the closet and engaged with the support member at the other end thereof, a shelf overlying said short pole, said short pole being at a vertical elevation intermediate the pair of poles supported by and between the support members.

10. The structure as defined in claim 9 together with a short pole engaged with the cleat adapted to be on the other side wall and engaged with the other support member and a shelf overlying the short pole.

11. The structure as defined in claim 10 wherein additional shelf members are supported in vertically spaced relation above the shelves overlying the short poles, said additional shelf members adapted to be supported on wall cleats and horizontal members on the bracket units, thereby providing a multiplicity of shelves and a multiplicity of poles at a conventional height intermediate the pair of poles of the support members with the pair of poles adapted to support short garments thereby increasing the effective length of the support pole.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 617,336 Hansen Jan. 10, '1899 740,001 Flanagin Sept. 29, 1903 1,118,385 Timmerman ..2 Nov. 24, 1914 1,608,456 Abdouch Nov. 23, 1926 2,056,544 Vanderveld Oct. 6, 1936 2,081,763 Peterson May 25, 1937 2,098,828 Ludvvich Nov. 9, 1937 2,573,348 Meadows Oct. 30, 1951 2,667,401 Knuth Jan. 26, 1954 2,892,494 Stroup June 30, 1959 

1. A COMBINED HANGER FOR CLOTHES AND A CLOTHES CLOSET COMPRISING AN ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A PAIR OF VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBERS, MEANS SUPPORTING THE SUPPORT MEMBERS IN THE INTERIOR OF THE CLOSET, A PAIR OF VERTICALLY SPACED POLES DISPOSED ON SAID VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBERS FOR SUPPORTING TWO VERTICALLY SUPERIMPOSED ROWS OF SUSPENDED GARMENTS, AND MEANS CONNECTING THE POLES TO THE SUPPORT MEMBERS FOR VERTICAL ADJUSTMENT OF THE POLES, THE SPACE BETWEEN THE POLES AND BELOW THE LOWER POLE BEING FREE OF OBSTRUCTIONS FOR RECEIVING THE ROWS OF GARMENTS, SAID MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBERS INCLUDING A BRACKET INCLUDING A HORIZONTAL MEMBERS AND AN UPWARDLY INCLINED MEMBER ATTACHED TO THE REAR WALL OF THE CLOSET, A FLANGE ON THE UPPER EDGE OF EACH HORIZONTAL MEMBER OF THE BRACKET, AND A SHELF MEMBER SUPPORTED FROM THE FLANGE, THE REAR OF THE HORIZONTAL SUPPORT MEMBER INCLUDING A LATERALLY OFFSET LUG, AND A CLEAT ON SAID WALL OF THE CLOSET FOR ENGAGEMENT BY THE LUG AND FORMING A LEDGE FOR SUPPORTING THE REMAINDER OF THE SHELF. 